Kim Vatis

Off to pursue "new adventures," WMAQ-Channel 5 reporter and news anchor Kim Vatis is resigning her full-time position at the NBC-owned station after 16 years.

Her last day anchoring weekend morning newscasts alongside Anthony Ponce is expected to be Dec. 1. But Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news at NBC 5, is leaving the door open for Vatis to return.

"Kim has decided it's time for a change in her life," Whittaker said in a memo. "With her daughter, Dakota, now off to college, Kim is hoping to travel more and take on other projects outside of local television news. Continue reading →

Jim Laski

If there were a special wing in the Radio Hall of Fame for classless jerks, Jim Laski would be the first inductee.

The exhibit would include a recording of Laski's final show Saturday on WCPT AM 820 in which he went after the station's bosses for having the nerve to expect him to pay his bills. Continue reading →

Hugh Hill

They don’t make reporters like Hugh Hill anymore.

A giant of Chicago journalism for 43 years, he practically invented the role of political reporter on local television news and played it longer and with more gusto than anyone.

Hill, who died Friday at 89, interviewed every U.S. president from Truman to Clinton and covered every Chicago mayor from Daley to Daley. His in-your-face style of interrogation and remarkable institutional memory made him a legend. Continue reading →

OK, let's get this straight: First WLS-Channel 7 drops its top-rated 11 a.m. news program after more than 20 years, becoming the only major station in town without a newscast between 9 a.m and 4 p.m. on weekdays.

And now the ABC-owned station adds an hour of news at 5 o'clock in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays, boasting that it offers "the most weekend TV news in Chicago." Continue reading →

Barry Mayo

Twenty-five years ago today, WVAZ FM 102.7 signed on with an urban adult-contemporary music format that had never been heard here before. “We will be a major player,” predicted founder Barry Mayo.

He was right.

Today V103 is the top-rated station in Chicago with a 6.2 percent share and an audience of more than 1.1 million. Revenue for the Clear Channel outlet exceeded $20.8 million in 2012. Among its stars are Steve Harvey, Doug Banks and Herb Kent.

Here is my Sun-Times column of Oct. 19, 1988 — one day after V103 debuted. (Posted with permission.) Continue reading →

Joel Lisinski

What would you call this guy?

His real name is Joel Lisinski. On the radio in Milwaukee, he's Joel Sheridan. And now that he's been hired as nighttime personality on WUSN FM 99.5, he's about to get a new identity. Continue reading →

Floyd Kalber (1984)

Seventeen years after "Eyewitness News" disappeared from Chicago television, it's making a comeback.

Just in time for the November sweeps, if all goes as planned, WLS-Channel 7 will go back to branding itself as "Eyewitness News," the station's well-known franchise from 1969 to 1996.

"The reality is ['Eyewitness News'] still has a very strong identity with this station — even though it was dropped a number of years ago," said John Idler, president and general manager of the ABC-owned outlet. "It's still very important to our viewers, and they associate it with ABC 7. That's principally why we're bringing it back." Continue reading →

Evan Allen-Gessesse and Niccole Thurman

With the launch of a new national series next week, Chicago's WTTW-Channel 11 is living up to its name as a "Window to the World."

"Local, USA" is billed as a 13-part documentary series showcasing segments from public television stations across the country along with the work of independent producers and other content creators. Each half-hour episode will explore a particular theme.

Premiering at 5 p.m. Oct. 21 on the World Channel and locally at 11 p.m. Oct. 24 on WTTW, it marks WTTW's first national series in years and its first in partnership with World, the digital channel produced and distributed by WGBH-TV in Boston, WNET-TV in New York and American Public Television. Continue reading →

Bob Sanders

Long before Bob and Marianne, Steve and Johnnie, or Don and Roma, there was Bob and Betty Sanders — Chicago radio's quintessential husband-and-wife team. And listeners loved them.

"Bob and Betty were the epitome of comfort radio," said veteran broadcaster Steve Dale, who was their producer in the 1980s. "The influence that they had was undeniable. They were at the top for a reason."

A trusted and admired voice on WBBM AM 780 for decades, Bob Sanders died Sunday near Lake Geneva, Wis., after a long illness. He was 89. Continue reading →

If you're not already sick of hearing, seeing and reading about the 10th anniversary of the Bartman debacle, there's one more look back you might not want to miss.

At 9 p.m. Tuesday Comcast SportsNet Chicago premieres "5 Outs . . ." — a 90-minute documentary on the collapse of the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 National League Championship Series. Included are interviews with everyone involved in the Cubs' heartbreaking loss that season. Everyone except infamous fan Steve Bartman, of course. Continue reading →